Taglines: No rules. No curfews. No baths. No nagging. No pulse.
Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead movie storyline. Sue Ellen Crandell (Christina Applegate) is a 17-year-old high school graduate who, due to a lack of funds, cannot go to Europe for the summer with her friends. She is about to head to college in the fall. However, when her mother goes on a vacation to Australia with her boyfriend, Sue Ellen looks forward to an entire summer of freedom with her younger siblings: 15-year-old slacker Kenny (Keith Coogan), 14-year-old ladies’ man Zach (Christopher Pettiet), 13-year-old tomboy Melissa (Danielle Harris), and 11-year-old TV fanatic Walter (Robert Hy Gorman).
Much to Sue Ellen’s dismay, her mother hires a live-in babysitter, Mrs. Sturak, a seemingly sweet, humble old woman who assures Mrs. Crandell that she can take care of all five children. As soon as Mrs. Crandell leaves, Mrs. Sturak shows her true colors as a tyrant, quickly drawing the ire of the children. However, she later dies of a heart attack. When her body is discovered by Sue Ellen, the children agree to stuff the babysitter in a trunk and drop her off at a local funeral home and keep her car. They discover that the envelope given to Mrs. Sturak by their mother with their summer money is empty; she had it on her when they delivered her body to the funeral home.
With no money to pay the family’s bills, Sue Ellen finds work at a fast food restaurant called Clown Dog. Despite a budding relationship with her co-worker named Bryan, she quits because of the obnoxious manager. Sue Ellen then forges a résumé under the guise of a young fashion designer and applies at General Apparel West (GAW), hoping to secure a job as a receptionist.
However, Rose Lindsey, a company executive, finds her résumé so impressive that she offers Sue Ellen a job as an administrative assistant, much to the chagrin of Carolyn, a receptionist on Rose’s floor who was initially in line for the job. While having dinner at a restaurant that night, Mrs. Sturak’s car is stolen by drag queens, forcing Sue Ellen to call in a favor from Bryan to bring them home. Sue Ellen then obtains the keys to her mother’s Volvo, and begins stealing from petty cash at GAW to support the family, intending to return it when she receives her paycheck.
Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Stephen Herek and starring Christina Applegate, Joanna Cassidy, Josh Charles, and David Duchovny.
The plot focuses on seventeen-year-old Sue Ellen Crandell, whose mother leaves for a two-month summer vacation in Australia, putting all five siblings in the care of a strict tyrannical elderly babysitter. When the babysitter suddenly dies in her sleep, Sue Ellen assumes the role as head of the household to prevent her mother from returning home early. She fakes a resume to get a job in the fashion industry, but proves capable and lucky enough to succeed.
Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead (1991)
Directed by: Stephen Herek
Starring: Christina Applegate, Joanna Cassidy, Keith Coogan, John Getz, Josh Charles, Concetta Tomei, David Duchovny, Sarah Buxton, Kimmy Robertson, Eda Reiss Merin, Danielle Harris
Screenplay by: Neil Landau, Tara Ison
Production Design by: Stephen Marsh
Cinematography by: Tim Suhrstedt
Film Editing by: Larry Bock
Costume Design by: Carol Ramsey
Set Decoration by: Kara Lindstrom
Art Direction by: Patricia Klawonn
Music by: David Newman
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: June 7, 1991
Hits: 200
